This paper is devoted to the assessment of the dynamics of the vegetation cover areas of the park parts of the Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo, Voikovsky and Shchukino districts (SPNA: Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo natural and historical park and the natural monuments Vsekhsvyatskaya grove, Shchukinsky park and adjacent squares that were a single whole with it in the past and are currently cut by Volokolamsk highway). Administratively, the districts belong to the North-West and North Administrative Districts of Moscow. The paper solves the problems of assessing the suitability of cartographic materials (topographic maps of different periods) for such assessments. The earliest date of compilation of a map technically suitable for assessment is recognized as 1940, i.e. an assessment of the vegetation cover dynamics was made for 84 years. Five times layers were selected: 1940, 1952, 1968, 1996 and 2024 with high-quality topographic data. For automated assessment, it was necessary to adjust the projections of topographic maps to the projection of a single base of the modern map, which was done by selecting control points and transforming the bases of past years. Cartographic problems that hinder the achievement of the set goal were identified: the disparity of conventional symbols of different time periods, in particular, different road widths, the use of off-scale topographic conventional symbols, strong distortions of the surface in some areas of the selected territory. Using the QGIS system, the maps were brought to a single base and the areas of green spaces were calculated, which amounted to 3.114 km2 in 1940, 2.748 km2 in 1952, 2.538 km2 in 1968, 2.125 km2 in 1996, and 2.601 km2 in 2024. Thus, the green areas in the selected area have decreased by 0.513 km2 (1.2 times or 16 %) over 84 years, which can be considered the inevitability of the development of a megalopolis. The Vsekhsvyatskaya grove suffered the most. The developed methodology can be recommended for calculating the indicators of the historical dynamics of cultural landscapes.
Read full abstract